Williams Defend Switch to Old Car

Williams introduced the new aero configuration in France last week but were disappointed with the car's performance in Magny-Cours and on Friday in Silverstone, in practice for the British Grand Prix.

The team then decided to switch Heidfeld back to the old FW27 configuration, despite the risk involved in doing so during a Grand Prix weekend, as they wanted to draw direct comparison between the old and the new configuration.

The team's technical director Sam Michael insisted this was not a step backward for the team's development, stating: "We chose to switch back to the old car on Friday night because we felt it would be better for us to learn by running the old car but with the new bodywork that we used in France.

"It's not a backward step. This way we can develop the aero side of the car a bit before we go to the Jerez test next week. Then we can take the entire new car and see where we are with it."

Michael also said the revised car still represents an improvement and said the team would continue developing the new configuration.

"The new car is the right way to go," Michael said. "It will just take time. We're not just cutting our losses here. It's not a throwaway race. We start every event wanting to get the best result possible and here is no different."